Decision details

Every local authority in the Yorkshire and Humber region will be resettling some Syrian refugees as part of the UK Government’s Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme. This report seeks authority for Sheffield City Council to resettle a small number of refugees over the course of the next few years.

That the Leader:-

(i) notes the contents of this report, including the financial implications associated with continued participation in the Syria VPRS; and

(ii) agrees that the Council enters into a funding agreement with Leeds City Council to provide funding to the Council to support the resettlement of 75 Syrian refugees each year from April 2016 to March 2019.

The Council now has over 12 years’ experience of management and delivery of refugee resettlement programmes, the longest involvement of any local authority in the UK.

The UK government have committed to resettling the most vulnerable Syrian refugees, bringing people to the UK who have fled the war and are temporarily based in neighbouring countries. The VPRS is funded by central government, with money provided at a level which funds the Council and its delivery partners to provide services and support to refugees for a period of up to 5 years following arrival in the City.

Every local authority in the Yorkshire and Humber region will be resettling Syrian refugees over the course of this parliament and if Sheffield resettles 75 per annum between 2016 – 2019 the Council will be playing its part in the regional and national response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria.

The VPRS funding is specifically for local authorities, to reimburse expenditure associated with resettling Syrian refugees. If the Council does not commit to joining the regional arrangements with the other local authorities it is very unlikely that any further refugees from Syria would be able to be resettled in the City.